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Pavlik Has the Heart of a Champ

This past Saturday (9/29/07), Pavlik won the WBC & WBO Middleweight Championship belts by knocking out the current champ Jermain Taylor, it was a classic fight that ended in a dramatic upset, and I LOVED IT.

Going into the fight, Pavlik was an 8-5 underdog, but that didn’t matter as he established a stiff jab in round 4 that utilized his strength throughout the rest of the bout, that very jab eventually led Pavlik in landing his devastating one-two combination to the head of Taylor, and Taylor did not take the punches well.

The fight started off very fast, both guys did damage to one an other, but it was the second round where Pavlik had to show his heart as he was dropped by a barrage of punches that Taylor threw in desperation after stinging Pavlik with a one-two combo. Pavlik went down, he walked to the neutral corner and shook it off, but as he went back at Taylor with his hands held low, Taylor one again unleashed power punches, but many did not land as Taylor went berserk exerting himself too much. Pavlik was still wobbly on his feet, but by the end of the round he seemed to have his sea legs back under him and Taylor was winded, it was a shaky round for the young Pavlik, but he worked through it.

From rounds 4 and on, Pavlik was knocking Taylor’s head back with a strong jab that would send Taylor to the ropes, but Taylor showed his skills as he was able to fight his way out of the corners, unlike Miranda who was brutally knocked out by Pavlik because of his lack of strength and skill to fight going backwards. Although Taylor was doing everything he can to make Pavlik give ground, it was Pavlik who was closing the distance, he was throwing vicious power punches, Taylor would still rally back towards the end of the rounds to keep the scoring close.

In round 7, Taylor was looking a bit weary and confused, Pavlik was looking confident on the way the fight was going, and with a strong one-two Taylor wobbled into the corner, and Pavlik was all over him, giving the finishing touches with uppercuts and left hooks and referee Steve Smogger stopped the bout as Taylor dropped to his knees motionless. Pavlik, the new WBC & WBO Middleweight Champion.

The difference was, Pavlik got up from a knockdown to continue fighting his fight, and Taylor didn’t……..What’s next for the “Ghost”?